A Large Five Paneled Cotton Furoshiki: Two Stripes and Patches

ca. early twentieth century
60" x 62", 152.5 cm x 157 cm 

This is a good-sized, cotton furoshiki, a furoshiki of this type-large, made from repurposed cotton--is a traditional storage, wrapping, hauling cloth.   

The furoshiki is hand stitched from five separate panels of hand woven cotton; four of the panels of cotton are identical while one, the panel of the extreme right hand, is a different stripe.  The color is a deep, dark indigo that reads black while the stripes are white and pale yellow.  On the right hand panel, the the stripes contain warp yarns that are kasuri or ikat.

The furoshiki shows six mending patches, mainly concentrated in the center area of the piece.  There is a small, white cotton tag at the lower, left hand corner of the cloth which shows hand written kanji.

A lovely, large utilitarian cloth from old Japan, in good, used condition.